SLPA runs its terminals fully occupied during seasonal holidays
View(s):The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA)-run terminals have been operating to capacity with 100 per cent attendance of operations and all other supportive staff during Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, a media release issued by the authority stated.
In this respect, on both days April 13 and 14, the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) and the Unity Container Terminal (UCT) of SLPA were competitive and successful in keeping all its berths fully occupied, the release said. On April 13, the JCT and the UCT together handled 7459TEUs whilst the two terminals recorded handling of 6259 TEUs on April 14. With the deployment of 20 STS cranes at the JCT and 18 at the UCT SLPA has operated 05 mother vessels and 08 feeder vessels during the two days.
The JCT itself handled 2,010,702 TEUS out of the total volume of 6,209,068 TEUs at the Port of Colombo in 2017. Compared to the 1st quarter 2017, JCT has recorded a growth of 15.3 per cent during the 1st quarter 2018.
The Drewry Port Connectivity Index in its most recent release had ranked the Port of Colombo as the 13th best Connectivity Port in the world for the 4th quarter 2017, up by five places from its previous positioning of ranks. According to the rankings the Port of Colombo is also the top best connectivity port in South Asia.
SLPA recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the terminals of the Port of Colombo to operate collectively to promote the Port of Colombo.